unless protected by an impenetrable guard such as a breakwater
or some invulnerable defence carried by the ships themselves, the
increased range and accuracy of the torpedo imparted by recent
developments would give it a chance of success if discharged against
such a target at even greater distance.
Finally, by improvements in construction and methods of discharge the torpedo has recovered the place it was rapidly losing a few years ago. As armour receives increased resisting power to above-water projectiles, and gets on a level again with the gun, more attention will be given to under-water attack, against which no adequate protection has yet been devised. Thus we shall probably find the torpedo taking a very prominent place in any future war between the great maritime powers. (S. M. E.-W.)
TORQUAY, a municipal borough, seaport and watering place, in the Torquay parliamentary division of Devonshire, England,
on Tor Bay of the English Channel, 26 m. S. of Exeter, by the Great Western railway. Pop. (1901), 33,625. Owing to the
beauty of its site and the equability of its climate, and to its
being screened by lofty hills on the north, east and west, and
open to the sea-breezes of the south, it has a high reputation
as a winter residence. The temperature seldom rises as high
as 70° F. in summer or falls below freezing-point in winter.
To the north lies the populous suburb of St Mary Church.
There are some remains of Tor or Torre Abbey, founded
for Praemonstratensians by William, Lord Brewer, in 1196.
They stand north of the modern mansion, but, with the
exception of a beautiful pointed arch portal, are of small
importance. On the south of the gateway is a 13th-century
building, known as the Spanish barn. On Chapel Hill are
the remains of a chapel of the 12th century, dedicated to
St Michael, and supposed to have formerly belonged to the
abbey. St Saviour’s parish church of Tor-Mohun, or Tormoham,
an ancient stone structure, was restored in 1874.
The old church at St Mary Church, north of Torquay, was
rebuilt in Early Decorated style; and in 1871 a tower was
erected as a memorial to Dr Phillpotts, bishop of Exeter, who
with his wife is buried in the churchyard. St John’s Church,
by G. E. Street, is a fine example of modern Gothic. Among
the principal buildings and institutions are the town-hall,
museum of the natural history society, theatre and opera-house
(1880), market, schools of art and science, the Torbay infirmary
and dispensary, the Western hospital for consumption, Crypt
House institution for invalid ladies and the Mildmay home for
incurable consumptives. The control of the harbour, piers,
pleasure grounds, &c., was acquired from the lord of the manor
by the local board in 1886. The harbour has a depth of over
20 ft. at low water. The principal imports are coal, timber
and slates, and the principal export stone of the Transition
limestone or Devonshire marble. In the town are a number of
marble-polishing works. Terra-cotta ware of fine quality is
also manufactured from a deposit of clay at Watcombe and
at Hele. The town is governed by a mayor, 9 aldermen and
27 councillors. Area, 3588 acres.
There was a village at Torre even before the foundation of the abbey, and in the neighbourhood of Torre evidence has been found of Roman occupation. The manor was granted by William the Conqueror to Richard de Bruvere or de Brewere, and was subsequently known as Tor Brewer. After the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Don Pedro’s galley was brought into Torbay; and William, prince of Orange, landed at Torbay on the 5th of November 1688. Until the middle of the 10th century it was an insignificant fishing village. It was incorporated in 1892.
TORQUE, or Torc (Lat. torquis, torques, a twisted collar,
torquere, to twist), the term given by archaeologists to the
twisted collars or armlets of gold or other metal worn particularly
by the ancient Gauls and other allied Celtic races. The
typical torque is a circlet with twisted rope-like strands, the ends
not joined together; the torque was usually worn with the
opening in the front as seen in a figure of a Gaul in a sculptured
sarcophagus in the Capitoline Museum at Rome. In mechanics,
the term “ torque ” is used of the turning-moment of a system force,
as in a series dynamo.
TORQUEMADA, JUAN DE (1388–1468), or rather Johannes
de Turrecremata, Spanish ecclesiastic, was born at Valladolid,
in 1388, and was educated in that city. At an early age he
joined the Dominican order, and soon distinguished himself
for learning and devotion. In 1415 he accompanied the general
of his order to the Council of Constance, whence he proceeded
to Paris for study, and took his doctor’s degree in 1423. After
teaching for some time in Paris he became prior of the Dominican
house first in Valladolid and then in Toledo. In 1431 Pope
Eugenius IV. called him to Rome and made him “magister
sancti palatii.” At the Council of Basel he was one of the ablest
supporters of the view of the Roman curia, and he was rewarded
with a cardinal’s hat in 1439. He died at Rome on the 26th of
September 1468.
His principal works are In Gratiani Decretum commentarii (4 vols., Venice, 1578); Expositio brevis et utilis super toto psalterio (Mainz, 1474); Quaestiones spirituales super evangelia totius anni (Brixen, 1498); Summa ecclesiastica (Salamanca, 1550). The last-named work has the following topics: (1) De universa ecclesia; (2) De Ecclesia romana et pontificis primatu; (3) De universalibus conciliis; (4) De schismaticis et hacreticis. His De conceptione deiparae Mariae, libri viii. (Rome, 1547), was edited with preface and notes by E. B. Pusey (London, 1869 seq.).
TORQUEMADA, THOMAS (1420–1498), inquisitor-general of
Spain, son of Don Pedro Ferdinando, lord of Torquemada, a small
town in Old Castile, was born in 1420 at Valladolid during the
reign of John II. Being nephew to the well-known cardinal of the
same name, he early displayed an attraction for the Dominican
order; and, as soon as allowed, he joined the Friars Preachers
in their convent at Valladolid. His biographers state that he
showed himself from the beginning very earnest in austere life
and humility; and he became a recognized example of the
virtues of a Dominican. Valladolid was then the capital, and in
due course eminent dignities were offered to him, but he gave
signs of a determination to lead the simple life of a Friar Preacher,
In the convent, his modesty was so great that he refused to
accept the doctor’s degree in theology, which is the highest
prized honour in the order. His superiors, however, obliged
him to take the priorship of the convent of Santa Cruz in
Segovia, where he ruled for twenty-two years. The royal family,
especially the queen and the infanta Isabella, often stayed at
Segovia, and Torquemada became confessor to the infanta,
who was then very young. He trained her to look on her
future sovereignty as an engagement to make religion respected.
Esprit Flechier, bishop of Nimes, in this Histoire du cardinal
Jimenes (Paris, 1693), says that Torquemada made her promise
that when she became queen she would make it her principal
business to chastise and destroy heretics. He then began to
teach her the political advantages of religion and to prepare the
way for that tremendous engine in the hands of the state, the
Inquisition.
Isabella succeeded to the throne (1474) on the death of Henry IV. Torquemada had always been strong in his advice that she should marry Ferdinand of Aragon and thus consolidate the kingdoms of Spain. Hitherto he had rarely appeared at court; but now the queen entrusted him not only with the care of her conscience, but also with the benefices in the royal patronage. He also helped her in quieting Ferdinand, who was chafing under the privileges of the Castilian grandees, and succeeded so well that the king also took him as confessor. Refusing the rich see of Seville and many other preferments he accepted that of councillor of state. For a long time he had pondered over the confusion in which Spain was, which he attributed to the intimate relations allowed between Christians and infidels for the sake of commerce. He saw Jews, Saracens, heretics and apostates roaming through Spain unmolested; and in this lax toleration of religious differences he thought he saw the main obstacle to the political union of the Spains, which was the necessity of the hour. He represented to Ferdinand and Isabella that it was essential to their safety to reorganize the Inquisition, which had since the 13th century (1236) been established in Spain. The bishops, who were ex officio inquisitors in their own dioceses, had not succeeded in putting a stop to the evils, nor had the friars, by whom they had been practically superseded. By the middle of the 15th century there was
